Enlarge this imageFarmworkers near Fresno, Calif., pick paper trays of dried raisins off the ground and heap them onto a trailer in the final step of raisin harvest on Sept. 24, 2013.Gosia Wozniacka/APhide captiontoggle captionGosia Wozniacka/APFarmworkers near Fresno, Calif., pick paper trays of dried raisins off the ground and heap them onto a trailer in the final step of raisin harvest on Sept. 24, 2013.Gosia Wozniacka/APFederal reforms for farmworkers are in the works following a blockbuster human trafficking case out of Georgia late last year. That case highlighted loopholes for abuse in the federal visa program that provides workers to farms and meat proce sing plants. In a letter sent to Sen. Jon O soff, D-Ga., earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the department is preparing to take the first step toward creating a rule reforming the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant worker visas.The letter comes alongside others Manny Ramirez Jersey sent to O soff throughout May from the Labor and State Departments in response to his questions about steps the federal government is taking to protect farm and food system workers.O soff wrote to the agencies in March following the indictment of two dozen defendants in a multi-year human trafficking case in Georgia that found the defendants allegedly defrauded the government of over 70,000 H-2A visas forcing hundreds of workers to illegally work on Georgia onion farms. The case reignited advocates’ push for increased labor protections among America’s e sential farmworkers. Hot Days: Heat’s Mounting Death Toll On Workers In The U.S. Heat is killing workers in the U.S. and there are no federal rules to protect them In the Georgia case, dubbed Operation Blooming Onion, the working conditions were described as “modern day slavery” as workers faced wage theft and physical abuse and were illegally transported; two died due to heat exposure. According to an indictment, 24 farm labor contractors and recruiters allegedly demanded workers pay illegal fees, held their identification documents hostage, required physically demanding work for little or no pay and housed workers “in crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions.” According to the indictment, workers were threatened with deportation and violence while the defendants profited $200 million. “The commitment that I have received to engage in new rulemaking suggests that in response to my inquiry they are planning to undertake Joe Carter Jersey reforms to protect the human rights of migrant farmworkers in the United States,” O soff told NPR in an interview, adding he still wants to see what specific rulemaking the agency plans to make.There’s been a growing dependence on foreign labor Currently, farmers and ranchers are able to resource the H-2A visa program if they need workers to perform seasonal or temporary agricultural labor so long as they can prove that they were not able to hire a domestic worker, among other requirements. While H-2B visas are considered “nonagricultural,” nurseries, meatpacking and seafood proce sing plants use them acro s the country. Law Supreme Court Hands Farmworkers Tyler Clippard Jersey Union A Major Lo s The demand for agricultural workforce visas has been steadily on the rise as producers face continued labor shortages, even before the pandemic. Most recently, the Labor Department noted the number of H-2A visas has more than tripled since 2012.Conditions in Georgia were dubbed as ‘modern day slavery’ Employees with these kinds of agriculture labor visas make up a small portion of the overall agriculture labor force, nearly half which is estimated to be made up of undocumented workers, according to the Labor Department. But abuses still occur even through the legal federal program aimed at providing labor.Over 70 percent of DOL investigations find workplace violations, with 30 percent of investigations finding employers have committed five or more violations, according to a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which analyzed DOL data. Though the case in Georgia is among the most extreme, since the start of the Biden administration, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, one of the branches that investigates workplace abuses, has concluded 573 H-2A investigations, resulting in over $9 million in back wages for more than 10,000 workers. Additionally, the agency has a se sed over $8.8 million in civil money penalties for H-2A violations, according Leonys Martin Jersey to the DOL letter written to O soff by WHD Acting Administrator Je sica Looman.According to Mayorkas in the letter, the proposed rulemaking proce s, which could still take years, would addre s some of the biggest i sues brought to light in Operation Blooming Onion, such as workers being overcharged and i sued illegal fees for visas and facing salary shortages.In addition, Mayorkas said the department is looking for ways to improve oversight of the H-2A program and improve workers’ participation in investigations. The move is also in line with President Joe Biden’s campaign promises to strengthen protections for farmworkers, while waiting on Congre s to move forward with immigration reform. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Enlarge this imageA gun store in Arcadia, Calif., on March 15, Robbie Ray Jersey 2020. A federal appeals court has ruled that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under age 21 is unconstitutional.Ringo H.W. Chiu/APhide captiontoggle captionRingo H.W. Chiu/APA gun store in Arcadia, Calif., on March 15, 2020. A federal appeals court has ruled that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under age 21 is unconstitutional.Ringo H.W. Chiu/APA U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21 is unconstitutional. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday the law violates the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and a San Diego judge should have blocked what it called “an almost total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles” for young adults. “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.” The Firearms Policy Coalition, which brought the case, said the ruling makes it optimistic age-based gun bans will be overturned in other courts. However, the ruling was not a total victory for gun rights advocates. They had sought to block the state from requiring a hunting license for purchases of rifles or shotguns by adults under 21 who are not in the military or law enforcement.Handgun sales to those under 21 were already prohibited when the hunting license requirement was pa sed in 2018 after some of the nation’s worst ma s Caleb Joseph Jersey shootings were committed by young adults using rifles, including the Valentine’s Day slayings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The court ruled the hunting license requirement was reasonable for increasing public safety through “sensible firearm control.” In 2019, the state pa sed an additional law banning sales of semiautomatic centerfire rifles to anyone under 21. There were exemptions for police or military troops but not for those with hunting licenses. Matthew Jones, a Abraham Almonte Jersey 20-year-old at the time from Santee in San Diego County, was the lead plaintiff in the case. He said he wanted a gun for self-defense and other lawful purposes but didn’t want to obtain a hunting license. His lawsuit, which had been filed before the under-age ban on semiautomatic weapons, was amended to challenge that law and the hunting license requirement. The suit said the state had “whittled down (the) already inapplicable and irrelevant hunting license ‘exemption’ the only exemption that is even po sible for an ordinary, law abiding young adult who does not wish to enter into a highly dangerous career in law enforcement or the military by prohibiting an entire cla s of firearms.”The two judges who ruled in the majority were part of President Donald Trump’s wave of conservative-approved nominees to the famously liberal court. A di sent was written by U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein, who was a signed to the panel from the Southern District of New York. Stein was nominated to the lower court by President Bill Clinton. Democratic Sen. Anthony Portantino of La Caada Flintridge, who wrote both laws, said he was disappointed the semiautomatic ban was struck down but was pleased the hunting license requirement survived. “I remain committed to keeping deadly weapons Arizona Diamondbacks Jersey out of the wrong hands,” Portantino said. “Student safety on our campuses is something we should all rally behind and sensible gun control is part of that solution.” Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said it was reviewing the decision. In a statement, a spokesperson said it was committed to “defending California’s commonsense gun laws.”
Enlarge this imageHistoric Molo sia sign up 2008Ryan Jerz/Flickrhide captiontoggle captionRyan Jerz/FlickrHistoric Molo sia sign up 2008Ryan Jerz/FlickrFreedonia won’t be sending a consultant, but delegates from Molo sia, Slabovia and Broslavia will all go to the MicroCon 2015 summit in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday. In case you are believing that your high school geography has out of the Andy Lee Jersey blue enable you down, there’s no need to fret: All these “countries” exist mainly while in the minds in their citizens, whose numbers vary from a handful to some hundred. Enlarge this imageThis April 8 image shows His Royal Highne s the Grand Duke of Westarctica, aka Travis McHenry, posing in his uniform in West Hollywood, Calif.Gabriela Alvarez/APhide captiontoggle captionGabriela Alvarez/APThis April 8 photo exhibits His Royal Highne s the Grand Duke of Westarctica, aka Travis McHenry, posing in his uniform in West Hollywood, Calif.Gabriela Alvarez/APMost have their own individual flags and uniforms, quite a few print their very own stamps, and a few even i sue pa sports, while a ha sle-free airport experience looks not likely should you end up picking to existing travel files within the Provisional Territories of F.A.R.T. “It’s nearly https://www.cardinalsglintshop.com/Andy-Lee-Jersey just like a diplomatic variation of the product railroad for nerds,” says Steven F. Scharff, who, according to The Affiliated Pre s, has studied the political intrigues from the micronation motion for decades. Saturday’s celebration within the prestigious Anaheim Central Library, not considerably from Disneyland, is staying billed as “a micronational get-together and action.”Enlarge this imagePa sport stampRyan Jerz/Flickrhide captiontoggle captionRyan Jerz/FlickrPa sport stampRyan Jerz/Flickr”Attendees are invited to present a brief presentation on their micronation or perhaps a micronational topic in their selection, no extra 10-15 minutes in length,” based on the summit’s webpage, hosted by Molo sia. “A laptop might be Robert Alford Jersey delivered; attendees may carry a CD or flash push with their presentation material if they wish.” Kevin Baugh, president in the Republic of Molo sia a 1.3-acre piece of land east of Reno, Nev., with 27 citizens, all expatriates apart from for his family is organizing the occasion, a primary for the world’s micronations. As outlined by the AP, Molo sia “i sues its individual pa sports and has its own railroad, phone method, bank, publish office environment and typical retailer. If you get in touch with in advance, the president himself will choose you over a tour.” “When you arrive at go to you see as much as feasible a operating country,” Baugh tells the AP. This is an entire checklist of micronation attendees, including the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, the dominion of Vikesland and West Who.